On February 21, Turkish architect Emre Arolat will discuss projects including:

• Santral Istanbul, a disused power plant converted into a center for art and education
• Eyup Cultural Center, whose roof forms a pedestrian walkway leading to Istanbul’s waterfront
• Raif Dinckok Cultural Center, a design that links separate structures with a perforated steel skin
• Sancaklar Mosque, which sought to strip away design conventions and return to the essence of Islamic philosophy
• AG Sumer Campus and AG Presidential Museum and Library, a Russian Constructivist factory transformed into an educational facility, library, and museum
• Antakya Museum Hotel, a novel design strategy for a hospitality center that straddles archeological ruins.

Arolat founded Emre Arolat Architecture (EAA) with Gonca Pasolar in 2004. Today, the firm has offices in London and New York in addition to Istanbul. Its projects have received the Mies Van der Rohe Award and the Aga Khan Award. Arolat has taught and lectured at design schools around the world, including Pratt and Yale, where he was the Norman R. Foster Visiting Professor. In 2012, he was a co-curator of the first Istanbul Design Biennale.

Current projects include:

• Munya Restaurant, Miami, US
• Kazan Mixed-Use Complex, Kazan, Russia
• Tehran Mixed-Use Complex, Tehran, Iran.

The lecture will be moderated by Adam Yarinsky, a partner at Architecture Research Office (ARO) and board member of Places Journal.

Support

This program is supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council and the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew Cuomo and the New York State Legislature.